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Voter concern over deficits is rising, a new polling memo from Democratic strategy group Blueprint argues, and it’s a jump ball between the parties to seize the issue.
“We’ve seen the deficit stand out in our polling in a way that’s often left us wondering if we’ve entered a time warp,” reads the report, shared exclusively with Semafor.
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In an online survey, respondents trust Biden and Trump roughly equally on the issue.
But there are messaging opportunities for Democrats: The most popular answer for why deficits are up are Trump’s tax cuts, including with Haley voters, and Black and Latino voters under 45, who are all seen as swing voting blocs. The next most popular response: Ukraine aid, which is vastly smaller in scope, but central to Congressional debates all year.
When asked to pick what’s driving their concerns, 33% of voters say they fear deficits will increase inflation, 30% say Congress should balance budgets like families do, and 28% say they fear future tax increases.
The memo recommends that Democrats emphasize Biden is working to close the budget gap by taxing the rich and corporations and extracting savings from pharmaceutical companies, while Republicans will turn to Social Security and Medicare cuts instead.
